And while it may not have been a particularly good day for aesthetically pleasing football, damn there were some great games played. Terry will have the full uni run down below, but the Central Florida/Temple, Michigan/Northwestern and Georgia/Auburn games featured incredible plays and endings. If you didn’t see them, well…here you go:

We’ll first start with this incredible last-second game-tying field goal in the Michigan/Northwestern game:

That pushed the game into OT, and Michigan won, in triple OT, 27-19.

Next is this ridiculous, one-handed touchdown grab by J.J. Worton of Central Florida to tie their game with Temple up.

That tied the game at 36 late, and with :28 left, UCF kicked a field goal to win 39-36.

Finally, and in what may have been the most remarkable (and improbable) of finishes, check out this twice-deflected pass in the Auburn/Georgia game on fourth-and-nineteen with just over :30 left.

That pushed Auburn ahead of Georgia by 5, and in a fantastic finish, Auburn held on for the win, 43-38.

Great, great day to be a college football fan. If you’re a fan of the unis, however…well, here’s TJ:

__________

Hello, fellow readers! I have a question for you… which do you find more unsettling? This? Or Northwestern’s These Colours Don’t Run costumes from Week 12? Too many shenanigans from Week 12. Grab your antacids, and let’s go through everything one at a time…

From Wednesday:

• Northern Illinois wore these… things. For shame, Huskies. For shame. And you wanna know the worst part? Apart from the pseudo-patriotism, these are actually better than what they normally wear.

• UCLA decided to shelve Bruin Blue in favor of Bruin Black. Wait, what? Yeah, they wore those costumes on Friday against Washington. Geez, first the Lakers now this? What’s next, a black weekend jersey for the Dodgers? Actually, forget I even said that. The numbers looked promising in the promo shots, but proved to be reflective and messy on the field, at least in a night setting. Not that I’d want to see these in a daytime setting (or ever again). Thanks, Adidas! From that same game, the Huskies head coach (if not all of the coaches) wore flag-desecration hats.

• Southern Miss already has some brutal uniforms. You know: the ones where the pants look like something out of Two-Face’s boutique? Yeah, those. But the camo suits that they wore over the weekend against FAU… no.

• Hawai’i wants you to taste the rainbow. I. LOVED. THESE. Only two main criticisms: one being how Under Armour’s forked pant design really screws up pant stripes. Surely, there must be a better way. The second is in the shoulder stripes. Secondly, With all of that room, you couldn’t have widened the rainbow stripes? Look at the original article. I may be two doors short of a house, but I am not an idiot. You can’t even begin to tell me that you can sublimate this, that, and the goddamn opening sequence to The Matrix onto those shoulder panels, but you can’t widen the stripes on these throwbacks even a little bit.

• I saved Northwestern for last. Wildcats, Under Armour, and everyone else involved… this shit needs to stop. You need to stop feeding us this garbage and telling us it’s “In honor of the military“, “the perfect way to say ‘thank you’ to our troops“, and any and all of those variants. You need to stop profiteering off of the heartstrings of the American people (only $7.50 donated to WWP for every $75 jersey sold? Really?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???). You need to stop engraving it into the minds of people across the nation that this kind of FUCKING BULLSHIT is okay. It is NOT okay, it never HAS been okay, and it will never BE okay. This is not how the military should be represented. And you can go ahead and say that I’m fighting a losing battle all you want. I’m not the kind of person to give up on anything worth fighting for. I will never give up on trying to right this wrong. Never. Also, this.

That does it for Week 12 of the 2013 NCAA season. I want to make it clear that I’m not a negative person. I enjoy many fun things, like cute puppy gifs, and good music. Huge thanks to Coleman W. Mullins, Anthony Bales, and anyone else who I might’ve forgotten. And of course, Phil. See you all next week.

__________

OK, Terry — thanks. How do you really feel about Northwestern?

Nice job, as always. Hang in there, we’re almost through with GIJoevember.

Catherine Ryan’s

Five and One

__________

Happy Sunday, UniWatchers! It was a busy weekend uni-wise but, unfortunately, not for the better…

Oregon won 44-21 (although the luster is off the Rose since they lost to Stanford last week) in a game that was actually fairly close for a couple of quarters.

You can follow Tim’s trackers on twitter @DuckTracker, @NUniTracker (dear lord, what is happening to my ‘Cats?!) or @Hoosier_Tracker or feel free to help him track them by shooting him an email at OfficialDuckTracker@gmail.com , OfficialNUniTracker@gmail.com or OfficialHoosierTracker@gmail.com.

Uni Tweaks Concepts

We have another new set of tweaks, er…concepts today. After discussion with a number of readers, it’s probably more apropos to call most of the reader submissions “concepts” rather than tweaks. So that’s that.

So if you’ve concept for any sport, or just a tweak or wholesale revision, send them my way.

Please do try to keep your descriptions to ~50 words (give or take) per image — if you have three uniform concepts in one image, then obviously, you can go a little over, but no novels, OK? OK!. You guys have usually been good with keeping the descriptions pretty short, and I thank you for that.

Like the colorizations, I’m going to run these as inline pics — click on each one to enlarge.

And so, lets begin:

~~~

We begin today with Dave Delisle, who has a new logo concept for the Cleveland baseball team:

Hey Phil,

Attached is a logo for a team that should jettison its logo….possibly its name (I’m torn on the latter).

I have sent Paul a few items in the past, namely my re-design of the 1982 White Sox contest back when I was 15, etc.

I’ve been a graphic designer for 25 years, and got into the business because of my love for team logos, redesigning uniforms, and drawing stadiums, etc. as a kid.

This is my recently submitted document to the San Diego Padres to urge them to change uniforms for 2014. I sent three copies (one each), in a nicely printed booklet, to Executive Chairman Ron Fowler, President and CEO Mike Dee, and Assistant Equipment Manager Tony Petricca. So far, no word back.

Thought I would share this with you, as I think it a good design. The first inside page highlights my reasoning behind my designs.

Enjoy!

Jay Shelton

. . .

We close today with Stephen Scheffel who has a new look for the Colorado football team:

Hey Phil,

I’ve got some designs for a fictional Team Colorado. I think the Colorado flag is one of the best in the union and I thought it would be cool to do a uniform based off of it.

Here are three uniforms, home road and alternate. They are semi based off of the Nebraska and Wisconsin uniforms worn last year. I did a bit of a Dodgers thing with the yellow numbers. I understand they are more modern and I tend to prefer a more classic look. I think this is new, different, and to some a little crazy, but its not exactly the Jaguars new helmet either.

83 comments to Sunday Morning Uni Watch

I actually think Illinois’s military appreciation uniform was a good one – a subtle nod to both the military and to the university they represent. By far my favorite.

Now I don’t want the classics – like Alabama, Texas, USC and my wolverines – to ever wear alternate uniformzzz, but if you’re going to honor the military and wear an alternate to try to do so, you can’t do much better than Illinois. And it goes without saying, you can’t do much worse than their cross-state conference rival.

Couldn’t agree more. You have the two extremes there within the Land of Lincoln.

Darren|
November 17, 2013 at 8:02 am |

Is anyone besides me struck by the irony of the Kansas Jayhawks wearing all-gray uniforms? John Brown’s body is rolling in the grave seeing that.

Tom|
November 17, 2013 at 11:17 am |

I hadn’t thought of it until reading your comment, but you are on the mark there. But his body has been a mouldering for a long time, probably not much rolling left to do. Love a little history sprinkled into my morning sports. Thanks.

I gotta say…while I don’t really enjoy all the military stuff being thrown in my face, I enjoy the olive colour that Oregon wore. I’m always looking for more brown to be used in uniforms, so olive isn’t too far off.

Mirliton|
November 17, 2013 at 9:26 am |

I totally concur ! Army would look great in full olive drab. Tulane would also look good in the olive from the school seal.

Taha|
November 17, 2013 at 9:39 am |

Do you think Al-Qaeda was excited about the Michigan win yesterday? They came back and beat ‘Murica!

CWac19|
November 17, 2013 at 9:50 am |

Loved the Hawai’i throwbacks, and TJ’s question re: stripe width was a good one. But isn’t the more glaring omission the lack of TV numbers??

LarryB|
November 17, 2013 at 12:27 pm |

Great to see an actual throwback. But as I watched some of it I was thinking something was a tad off. So why couldnt they have made the stripe width bigger. As said they had room to do so.

Meanwhile, the Stanford-USC game was a nice one. Amazing how clean Stanford looked with its minimalist look. It contrasted nicely with USC’s traditional unis. It also demonstrated how costumes are way over-rated. It was a good game, too.

Padres uniform proposal? It’s not really a proposal as much as some guy’s attempt to create a fake uniform set. Speaking of…it’s disappointing how this website has become so much about everyone’s personal uniform creations.

Jim Mason|
November 17, 2013 at 12:27 pm |

I don’t really understand the difference between a proposal and someone creating what you call “a fake uniform set.”

I think he’s just a troll, but if there is a difference, it would be that a “proposal” is actually presented to and considered by the team, while our “fake uniform sets” aren’t.

As someone who has had multiple uniform concepts featured on the site, I really want to tell chiz to fuck off, but that would be rude of me.

Phil Hecken|
November 17, 2013 at 12:48 pm |

“As someone who has had multiple uniform concepts featured on the site, I really want to tell chiz to fuck off, but that would be rude of me.”

~~~

Not really.

But lets see — Paul never (or rarely) features concepts, and except for yesterday, where I did use the lede to feature a designer, the concepts make up about 1/8th or less of the weekends, and usually it’s about the third or fourth sub-section.

Yeah, they’re really “taking over” the site.

Ben|
November 17, 2013 at 10:06 am |

That college map is so messed up. Pitt is in Philly, penn state over Pittsburgh, and Rutgers next to Maryland stood out the most.

Komet17|
November 17, 2013 at 11:18 am |

Plus: No Fresno State or San Jose State…

DenverGregg|
November 17, 2013 at 1:06 pm |

No Utes or Colorado State either. Also I don’t think NoDak still uses the Sioux warrior logo.

Dane|
November 17, 2013 at 10:34 am |

Lewis Hamilton is wearing a Michael Jackson tribute helmet this weekend for the United States Grand Prix.

Since 1990, Don Essig, the stadium’s PA announcer since 1968, has declared that “It never rains at Autzen Stadium” before each home game as the crowd chants along in unison. He often prefaces it with the local weather forecast, which quite often includes some chance of showers, but reminds fans that “we know the real forecast…” or “let’s tell our friends from (visiting team name) the real forecast…” If rain is actually falling before the game, Essig will often dismiss it as “a light drizzle,” or “liquid sunshine” but not actual rain by Oregon standards

Dust|
November 17, 2013 at 11:28 am |

I was at the Oregon game and I think the other shoulder patch was a “It never rains in Autzen Stadium”. Gold flag on the other shoulder and a support our troops sheild at the collar. I looked at a replica jersey quickly in the store and thought that’s what I saw.

Mac|
November 17, 2013 at 6:19 pm |

Not completely true. That t-shirt is just a play off of the unit patch for the 41st Infantry BCT (a part of the Oregon National Guard).

I was pleased to see what the Ducks wore yesterday. They got the flag right – if it is worn on the right shoulder, the union should be on the right and the stripes should stream to the rear of the wearer, as if he were carrying a flag.

The left shoulder design intermingled Autzen Stadium and the “It Never Rains” slogan with the 41st Brigade patch. During WWII, the National Guard in Oregon was activated as the 41st Division and used this as their unit patch.

GI Jed|
November 17, 2013 at 11:32 am |

I thought the NBA learned about the whole orange and red thing when Brian Scalabrine went to the Bulls. I thought that was why he didn’t play.

Phil,
This blog has become an everyday read for me….great stuff. It is like coming home for me, love this stuff….
Great work…keep it rocking
-Derek

Coleman|
November 17, 2013 at 12:41 pm |

Thanks for the shout out Terry, even though I don’t think I provided any photos! Sometimes tips are enough, and that’s all I can make time for when my 4 year old son is with me for the weekend!

Wonderful breakdown as always, can’t wait to look a little more in depth tomorrow.

Coleman|
November 17, 2013 at 12:49 pm |

And I hate to see Catherine punishing a perfectly okay WVU uniform because of the hideous unis Kansas wore. The all white is one of the LEAST offensive of their 27 terrible options.

Petros|
November 17, 2013 at 12:53 pm |

Re: Northwestern. TJ, I think you need to calm down. It’s just a uniform. Go get a blankie and a bottle of warm milk, have your mom give you big a hug. Keep telling yourself, it’s just a uniform, it’s just a uniform, it’s just a uniform. No need to go on embarrassing, profanity-laced tirades on the internet. And no, you’re not “fighting” for anything, you’re doing absolutely nothing to “right this wrong,” you’re just complaining via an anonymous blog post. There’s a big difference. Stop trying to make yourself sound so noble.

No. It’s not “just a uniform”. It’s one of the latest (and one of the biggest) examples of the ongoing integration of military imagery/lifestyle with sports.

“Profanity-laced”? Sorry, that line doesn’t work on me. To say that someone’s point is automatically null because of language is lazy. There are words that are far more offensive than “fuck” and “shit”, and the weird thing is that some of those words aren’t even considered profane words. Besides, I used “fuck” and “shit” a total of 3 times in my Northwestern note, not 300 times.

And as I stated near the end, I’m not going to give up because you want me to stop talking about this issue. One of the best ways to solve an issue is to talk about it, so we can evaluate what is wrong and find solutions to correct it. I’m not complaining for the sake of complaining. If I talk as seriously about anything as I did about this uniform, it’s because I feel strongly about what I’m talking about.

Next, my name is clearly shown on the site, so I don’t know what you mean by an “anonymous blog post”.

Lastly, I never made myself out to be “noble” here. I have never made myself out to be noble. I will not stop. I will continue to write the way I normally do unless Paul or Phil ask me to change my style, in which, I will oblige.

I am more than willing to hear arguments from all sides. I am open to discussion, and if I’m presented with an argument that makes me think harder about this, then I will amend my opinions on this uniform in the future, and happily admit to my wrongdoings (or rather, wrongSAYINGS), but all you’ve done here is try to tell me to shut up without a legitimate reason why, and that’s not how a healthy argument should be.

Dan|
November 17, 2013 at 1:17 pm |

Just had to stop off and say that the uni concept based on the Colorado State Flag is a real beauty. Nothing beats the Colorado State Flag…easily the best flag in the United States!

James A|
November 17, 2013 at 6:52 pm |

I agree with Dan. If I had to nit-pick about it, I would say that I’m not too big with the mountains on sleeves, moreso on the white jerseys. Perhaps if the sleeves on that jersey were white/red or white/blue instead of blue/red, but that’s a minor quibble. I like the look a lot.

DenverGregg|
November 17, 2013 at 7:50 pm |

There is not likely anyone more enthused about the 38th state than me, but vexillogically speaking, several states have us beat: Alaska, Arizona, Maryland, New Mexico, South Carolina and, arguably, Rhode Island.

The C in the Colorado flag is so very close to the Chicago Cubs’ C that it seems inappropriate in a sporting venture.

DenverGregg|
November 17, 2013 at 7:53 pm |

Vexillologically. That’s what I get for pregaming before typing.

Jeff|
November 17, 2013 at 1:28 pm |

I really liked the Oregon uniforms. I thought they were a play on an actual Mallard Duck’s brown color, and never thought they had anything to do with the military until I read the post… bummer, now I’m torn, lol.

NinerEd|
November 17, 2013 at 1:37 pm |

UW uses the term “flag-desecration” so much, you should turn it into a drinking game. You’d think that there was a damn epidemic.

Alex|
November 17, 2013 at 1:38 pm |

Does anybody else think this guy is gay from the way he criticizes uniforms? He thinks he’s the fashion police or something.

Phil Hecken|
November 17, 2013 at 2:15 pm |

Thanks for playing. Have a good day.

zooropa140|
November 17, 2013 at 6:51 pm |

Obvious Troll is obvious.

superfly|
November 17, 2013 at 11:46 pm |

And so what if he was…

Dan Swartos|
November 17, 2013 at 1:58 pm |

The patch on Oregon’s uni is from the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team

As always some flag uniforms are better than others. Ugly ones, imo, are Rutgers and Northwestern. For me as long as it isn’t a whole uniform I am ok with a little flag here or there. Hawaii had fantastic throwbacks

Harrison|
November 17, 2013 at 3:06 pm |

Malcolm Brown of Texas was wearing the #96 jersey as a tribute to Chris Whaley who is out for the rest of the season. The Longhorns did something similar a few years ago when Fozzy Whittaker suffered a season-ending injury.

michael patrick mclaughlin|
November 17, 2013 at 3:16 pm |

the LB Allen on the jags vs cards is wearing the concussion patch on his neck today

Terry: I can’t agree more with your take on the Northwestern atrocities. The 90/10 “split” on proceeds from uni sales is just the cherry on top of the sanctimonious, self-serving sundae. (“At Northwestern, we love the troops with 10 percent of our collective hearts & souls!”)

Keep fighting the good fight, gentlemen!

Phil Hecken|
November 17, 2013 at 4:34 pm |

I actually googled “distressed flag” to search for, well, distressed flags from which to make the dividers. Found a ton, but none that looked anything like NU’s WWP. But this is the actual flag (click to enlarge) from which the dividers were made:

I don’t even like this flag, but it’s better than UA’s attempt at it.

Ben|
November 17, 2013 at 3:48 pm |

Malcom Brown wore the 96 jersey in honor of Chris Whaley.

James Burke|
November 17, 2013 at 4:48 pm |

Obligatory Redskins comment since there hasn’t been one yet.

1vox|
November 17, 2013 at 5:06 pm |

I’m an old timer that doesn’t like the flag being worn. It’s against the etiquette and respect some of us were taught as children.

But, I have no idea WHY TJ is UPSET about the Texas band having a FLAG, not a uniform desecrating a flag, but an actual FLAG, on the field?

I have seen many college marching bands use all kinds of flags over my 50+ years on this earth, including the American flag, and never, not once, have I ever heard anyone complain about it.

Until now.

They didn’t wear it, display it upside down, step on it, burn it, etc. They did nothing that desecrates the flag by using it, displayed on a pole, as part of their halftime festivities.

Seeing the band reenact this iconic image completely rubbed me the wrong way. I might’ve been a little too mad at this display in particular, but I still see it as kind of much. Again, I’ll look at this and think a bit deeper, and if I felt that I was out of line with what the band did, then I will amend my opinion and admit to my idiocy (which I have no problem doing). I’ll be sure to mention you in the comments in the future should I change my mind about this display.

1vox|
November 17, 2013 at 5:50 pm |

I wasn’t aware they were doing a reenactment, so my apologies for not knowing. I still don’t believe that changes my mind about using a flag at halftime. Marching bands have traditionally used American flags during halftimes, parades, etc., and usually in connection with patriotic themes/holidays. I see that as the appropriate way to honor troops (as has been done for decades during halftime festivities). I can recall huge American flags being unfurled during halftime festivities, and in no way is that desecration.

I’m 100% with all of you about the desecration of the flag on uniforms, however.

For whatever it’s worth, I’m with you on this one, TJ/Moono. If you dislike flag desecration uniforms on the basis of “Please keep the uniforms used at sports events–which should be apolitical reprieves from stresses otherwise encountered in life–free of pro-military jingoism,” then it is completely consistent to wish that a sports event NOT do a reenactment of Iwo Jima.
Iwo Jima is immortalized as a statue at the Arlington National Cemetery, and there is an executive proclamation that a flag be flown there 24/7. That is rare. And special. And cheapened by the Longhorn marching band.
1vox, by all means, I like marching bands, and I’m perfectly OK with letting a person who doesn’t play an instrument or bang a drum hold a U.S. flag. But I’d really rather not have more “Hail Troops” PDA’s mixed in with my sporting events.

As some of you can already tell, I’m back from work. I want to thank all of you for the clarification on the Oregon left sleeve patch. And regarding two comments from two different people, I don’t know what to say except that unless I know that I did or wrote something wrong, I don’t see a problem with this column. If you’re not a fan of my writing, that’s fine, but there’s no need for comments like that, whether they’re addressed to me, Phil, Paul, Catherine, Tim, or anyone on this site. We are all (or at least most of us are) adults here. Let’s act like it. That goes for me, too.

Mac|
November 17, 2013 at 6:23 pm |

Not many people can recognize the unit patches for specific military units – it’s no big deal. I am torn about whether I liked these uniforms aesthetically, but I am entirely pleased with the effort they put forth to honor Oregon’s military men and women.

I remember something on the ticker a few days ago about Nike refusing a high school team (I believe) the color “crimson” because Alabama trademarked it and their uniforms. I also remembered how dumb that sounded (Will they be suing Oklahoma and Stanford soon?) Well, it gets worse for the little man. There are a few huge write-ups in local papers about the university now cracking down on small venders and crafters, the point of requiring licenses and fees and even claiming to have a trademark on the word “Alabama”.

I feel like this kinda glove goes along with what paul had said a while back about gloves aiding performance, especially in football

Phil Hecken|
November 17, 2013 at 11:37 pm |

Someone tweeted this same question at me; I wasn’t sure so I R/T’ed with a pic. Apparently they’re Reebok. There are no logos because the only gloves that can contain logos (now) are Nike. Or at least that’s the story.

Sounds legit.

Phil Hecken|
November 17, 2013 at 11:38 pm |

ohhhh…update. Apparently Nike and UA are Ok. And confirmation on the Reebok.

David|
November 18, 2013 at 10:42 pm |

Catherine will never be happy until every football team on earth wears ugly dark pants with white jerseys. What, Catherine, you want Alabama in crimson pants, something it has NEVER done? Ditto for Oklahoma? Texas in orange pants, NEVER done? Or LSU in purple pants, something it tried once and it looked so butt ugly it vowed it would never happen again? Catherine, you need a life. You need to stop this fetish with white jerseys and dark pants. White on white or white on yellow or white on silver actually looks pretty sharp.

David|
November 18, 2013 at 10:45 pm |

Catherine’s dream is for the Cowboys to come out in blue pants, the 49ers in red pants and the Raiders in black pants. She must have been swooning watching the Cleveland-Cincinnati game.

David|
November 18, 2013 at 10:47 pm |

My 5+1 from last weekend:
5–Iowa State at Oklahoma
4–TCU at Kansas State
3–Michigan State at Nebraska
2–Georgia Tech at Clemson
1–Georgia at Auburn. NO DOUBT. Clear winner.
+1–Utah at Oregon. Utah in black? GROSS.

Bobby K|
November 18, 2013 at 11:12 pm |

Underneath the B1G logo it says Riddell

ryan heater|
November 19, 2013 at 6:06 am |

curious they still honor retired numbers during spring training? the phillies spring training jersey said to be from the 80s has 36 on it which was retired by the phillies in 62 for robin roberts. obviously with the light blue its from the 80s. would love to know more about thisa